Behind the Mask
by MsWikit
Summary: Bruce Wayne has left his company to Dick in his will. A group of assassins then tries to kill him. While Dick recovers Bruce goes off to find whoever is doing this and why. The Young Justice team is left to guard him. But no one can know his secret...
1. It's an Honor

Hello there! Black Wings is winding down, and I should hopefully have both chapters up sometime soon. I've had this idea in my head for a while, but I wanted to make more sense of it first (and finish Black Wings/get close to finishing it) before I started it.

I think I've got everything worked out, so I figured I'd go around and write this chapter and give you something to read while I finish up the last two chapters of Black Wings.

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><p>"I, Bruce Alan Wayne, being of sound mind and body, do name my adopted son, Richard John Grayson, my lawful heir. I leave him Wayne Industries, my home, and ninety percent of my funds. The other ten percent will be donated to charity." Lucius Fox looked back up from reading, eyebrows raised. He smiled and slid the final piece of paperwork over to Bruce. Bruce gladly clicked his pen and scrawled his signature across the line.<p>

"Finally. I didn't think there would be this much paperwork just to make Dick my heir." Bruce said with a relieved sigh. "I mean, he's technically my son…"

"Technically, all of this paperwork wasn't required." Fox replied, taking the last paper back. "But I figured you'd want it to be foolproof, just in case. It isn't completely iron-tight, though. You can have it revised to include future children."

Bruce smirked a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Future children, Lucius? I think Dick is enough. I can barely keep him in check."

"Right now you say that. But who knows? Maybe one day you'll have six Robins trailing after you." Lucius chuckled slightly at the thought. "Anyway, it's all taken care of now. The paperwork part, at least. Have you told him…?"

The smirk faded from Bruce's face. "No, not yet. I'm not sure how he'll react. I mean, sometimes I still think he doesn't like the whole adoption thing. I would have felt like someone was trying to replace my parents if they adopted me. And I can only assume he feels the same way-"

Lucius rolled his eyes and sighed. "Bruce, Bruce…he adores you. All he wants is to make you proud. Every time he looks at you, you can see the admiration in his eyes." The other man chuckled and rose from the table. "Inheriting your family's company will mean a lot to him, I think. It shows that you trust him to run something your parents handed on to you. Like an actual son. That type of recognition from you will mean a lot to him, I think."

"Here's hoping." Bruce replied with a grim face. "I still have my doubts…"

"Well, you have to tell him before the press gets wind of this. I don't think he'd like to hear that from the local news." Lucius replied. "Which reminds me…you should probably schedule a press conference for later today to announce it." He chuckled when Bruce let out a heavy sigh and set a hand on his shoulder. "Batman may like his privacy, but Bruce Wayne loves to talk about his life to the press. He hasn't been able to be a drunken playboy since he adopted a little boy. So he has to get his kicks from somewhere."

"I think being a drunken playboy was easier than being a father." Bruce replied.

"What you do as Batman is easier than being a father." Lucius chuckled.

"I'd agree to that." Bruce shook his head a bit and sighed. When he adopted the young orphan, he had no idea how much work it would be. At first, he thought it'd be easy. Dick wasn't a baby. The really hard years had passed. Right? Wrong. Turns out, the hardest years were actually the _teenage_ years. Not to mention that he was still stricken with grief over his parents when Bruce adopted him. So it hadn't been easy. At all. "I'll tell him right when I get home. I swear. And then, press conference."

Lucius took the paperwork off the table and stored it in Bruce's small, private safe. "I'll hold you to your word, Bruce."

xxxx

"You know, this place is way too quiet." Dick said with a sigh. He was laying on the couch, staring up at the high ceiling. "We need a dog. Or something. Maybe like…five dogs."

Alfred set down a tray on the coffee table. "I refuse to clean up after one dog, much less five. If you want one, or five, you'll have to do all that yourself. Now take your vitamins and get washed up for dinner." He handed the contents of the tray, a glass of water and three vitamin pills, to the young man. "Master Bruce said he was on his way home. So be quick about it."

With a slight roll of the eyes and a good-natured smirk, Dick downed the vitamins and hurried upstairs. He washed off his hands and slid down the stair rail to get back downstairs. When he reached the bottom, Bruce was home.

"Can't you ever go down the stairs like a normal kid?" Bruce asked, smiling slightly. He set a hand on Dick's head and ruffled his black hair.

"Acrobat. Flips and stunts are in the blood. We've gone over this." Dick replied as they both walked into the dining room. Alfred had prepared the table for dinner in a matter of minutes, once again proving that Alfred was secretly a wizard. (Or an awesome species of alien. Dick wasn't sure which.)

They sat down and had their usual meal. There wasn't ever very much talking unless Alfred struck up the conversation. Otherwise, most of the talk was about patrols, training, missions, and the like. But Bruce surprised Dick by bringing up a completely different topic than was usually discussed.

"So…um. I finished some paperwork with Fox today." Bruce began. How was Dick going to react to this? And how was it that Bruce could fight super-criminals, but not even tell his adopted son this piece of news? "We revised my will."

"Your will?" Dick looked alarmed. "But, you're not going to be dying anytime soon-"

"Of course not." Bruce cut him off when he saw the sudden fear in Dick's eyes. "I'm going to be around for a long, long time. But we figured that…just in case…we should make sure everything was nice and sound. Whenever I do pass away, I've passed Wayne Enterprises on to you. As well the majority of my money. I did decide to donate ten percent of it to charity, though. You can choose which ones when the time comes." As he spoke, Dick's blue eyes steadily got bigger.

There was a long silence. Alfred lowered his fork and raised his snow-white eyebrows, waiting to see how Dick would react once getting over the initial shock of realizing he was a future billionaire. Finally, the young boy stammered out, "_R-Really_? You're leaving your dad's company to _me_?"

Bruce smiled slightly. "Well, it is a father-to-son sort of thing…"

"Father-to-son…" Dick smiled a bit. "I'm honored."

"But you realize we have to tell the press."

"Ugh. Do we really?"

"Yes. Now go put on a good suit."

"Yes, sir."

xxxx

Wally was flipping through the channels when he saw his best friend was on TV.

He was standing next to a podium while his adoptive father, a large handsome billionaire by the name of Bruce Wayne, talked about how he'd formally left his company and the vast majority of his fortune to his adopted son in his will. Said adopted son stood at attention and stared out over the heads of the paparazzi, not really looking at anyone. Dick had once explained to Wally that was his 'thing.' Who would expect a handsome, alcoholic playboy to be Batman? And who would _ever_ suspect his straight as a line, obedient genius son to be joining in on the vigilante game as well?

No one, that's who!

After Bruce made the initial announcement, he allowed reporters to ask questions.

"Dick! How do you feel about this?" One of the reporters called out when he was chosen to speak.

Bruce stepped back from the podium, and Dick stepped up. He looked at the reporter with stern blue eyes. "I'm very honored. I never expected something so precious to Bruce to be passed down to me. But I hope I won't have to be making decisions about the company for a long, long time."

Wally chuckled and leaned back against the couch. He'd figured that his friend always knew he'd be a billionaire one day. But, apparently not. Wally could recognize the excitement glimmering behind his friend's stoic expressions. To him, it meant a lot. It meant being accepted by Bruce as his son. Of course, Bruce had done that a long time ago…but maybe now it just felt more real or something. More questions were asked, mostly towards Bruce. Another reporter asked a question directed towards Dick.

"How do you think your birth parents would react to this?" Wally received a strong urge to punch that reporter in the face. Who asks a thirteen-year-old orphan about how their dead parents would feel about something their adoptive father gave them? It just seemed like a jerk move. He could see Dick struggling to come up with the answer. For the first time, the excitement turned to a glimmer of doubt. Would his parents be proud?

Dick leaned towards the collection of microphones on the podium. "Well, I think they'd be happy for me…I mean, they'd be happy Bruce is taking such good care of me. He's been a great fa-"

The gunshot went off.

Dick staggered and hit the floor of the stage. The reporters went into a panic, trying to determine where the shot was fired from. Bruce yelled for a paramedic and knelt down beside his son. Shortly thereafter, the station cut back to reporters. Wally flipped from news channel to news channel, trying to see more footage. Was Dick ok? Where did he get shot? Was he _dead_? Finally Wally was forced to admit defeat. The news stations were only replaying the shots of Dick being shot, and saying he was being transported to Gotham Medical. No one was sure what had happened. And if there was one thing Wally West hated, it was not knowing something. It drove him crazy. He had to know how this worked, why this did that…finally, he became so stir-crazy, he decided to go for a run.

Hopefully when he returned, there would be some actual news.


	2. Odessa

Hey guys! The next chapter of Black Wings is in the works. Here's another Behind the Mask chapter to hold you over till then!

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><p>It had been about three days since the shooting. Neither Robin or Batman had showed up to Mount Justice in that time span, which didn't surprise anyone. While they were formally part of the League, their partnership and dedication to protecting Gotham came before the League's work. Wally followed his friend's progress via online rumors and news reports. In that three days, there was much more information. Dick was at Gotham Medical, healing from a surgery that saved his life. The bullet had pierced just beneath the heart and severed a major artery. The doctors said it was a miracle he didn't bleed to death while he was waiting for the paramedics. But, to their credit, they appeared quickly and got him to the hospital in record time. One seven hour surgery and a bunch of blood transfusions later, doctors were saying that Dick was well on his way to recovery. Though news reports said he had chosen to spend the rest of his recovery at home, with nurses visiting twice each day to make sure he was ok.<p>

However, that hadn't been any random bullet.

The shooter had gotten away unseen. Authorities were almost certain it was some kind of assassination attempt. Rumor was that someone had learned (before the press conference, anyway) that the kingdom that was Wayne Enterprises was getting a crown prince. And apparently, someone didn't want that to happen.

The Flash and K.F. had just watched the police load another failed bank robber into a cop car when Flash got word from Batman that they were supposed to meet at Mount Justice. The two shrugged and followed orders, dashing off towards the mountain base.

Somehow, they were the last ones there. M'gann, Kaldur, Conner, and Artemis were already there. Batman gave Flash a brief nod as K.F. joined his teammates.

The screen appeared on the wall. To Kid Flash's surprise, it was a picture of Dick. It was a slightly older picture that had been taken by the paparazzi. In it, Dick was standing and drinking some soda at a police gala that had been sponsored by Bruce. His expression was bored and stoic. (Though, for once, the boredom wasn't feigned.)

"This is Dick Grayson. He's the adoptive son of the billionaire Bruce Wayne." Batman began. Another picture appeared. This one was of Bruce trying to shield Dick from the paparazzi as they walked towards the limo. The picture had been taken years ago, shortly after the adoption had been finalized. "Wayne owns a very large company called Wayne Enterprises. Before, it was unsure if Wayne would leave his company to his son. But three days ago, he announced that he had revised his will to make Grayson his sole legal heir."

Another picture appeared. Bruce was kneeling over Dick. His front was darkened with blood. "At the press conference, someone made an attempt on Grayson's life. He survived and is in recovery. The League thinks this is the work of a group of assassins called Odessa. Wayne was scheduled to go on a business trip today, and is proceeding as planned despite the circumstances."

"His son is being targeted by assassins and he goes off on a business trip? He sounds like a deadbeat dad to me." Artemis frowned a bit and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Well, he definitely isn't father of the year." The Flash said with a chuckle. K.F. almost laughed along with him, until he remembered he wasn't supposed to get the joke.

Batman continued, "Your mission is a simple one. Protect Dick Grayson while the League investigates this Odessa group."

"So we're supposed to go watch some rich kid?" Conner asked. He raised his eyebrow.

"This mission is more important to you than you think." Martian Manhunter replied.

The screen vanished, and Batman started to walk off.

Mi'gann spoke. She said, "Um…will Robin be joining us on this mission?"

Batman paused and looked back at them. "No. Robin will be investigating Odessa with the League." With that, he left.

The group looked at each other. Conner and Artemis looked angry that it seemed that Robin was getting special treatment from the League. Kaldur and M'gann, however, seemed to almost sense the lie. They looked at each other with concern. K.F., meanwhile, was too shell-shocked to react in any other way. Their mission was to protect Dick Grayson…without the rest of the team finding out who Dick Grayson actually _was_. Or who Bruce Wayne was. This was going to be difficult on Dick. And Wally. He had to protect his friend's identity, of course. In truth, Robin was just as protective of his identity as Batman was. The only reason he'd ever told Kid Flash was because they'd been best friends for a long, long time. But how were they not going to recognize Dick?

"This will be a challenge." Kid Flash muttered to himself.

"What'd you say?" M'gann asked.

"Huh? Oh, nothing…"

xxxx

M'gann landed the ship on the lawn of Wayne Manor. The team filed out and stared up at the manor with a bit of awe. It was a large, imposing-looking building. Kid Flash's awe wasn't entirely feigned…though he'd seen Wayne Manor before. He'd crept in to keep Dick company one time when he had strep throat and couldn't go on patrols with Batman. But that was only once.

Before anyone got the chance to knock on the door, an older man opened it. He looked them over with a slight frown before standing aside to let them enter. "Welcome to Wayne Manor." The man had a bit of a British accent. He closed the door after Superboy, who was the last one inside. "My name is Alfred. I am Master Wayne's butler and keeper of the house while he is gone."

Artemis rolled her eyes at the word 'butler.' "Of course he has a butler…"

"Right you are, miss…Master Wayne is a busy man. Someone has to keep this place in order." Alfred replied, pretending he hadn't heard the sarcasm in her voice. "I've got a great many rules in this house. Both Master Wayne and Master Richard are expected to follow them, as are you. Do not touch anything unless you are granted express permission to do so, do not track dirt, keep all noises to a dull roar, and everyone in the household must be on time for meals. Or else they do not eat. I've been informed by the League to give you your own rooms, preferably near Master Richard. The boys will bunk in the guest room across the hall, and the girls will sleep in the other guest room two doors down. Boys and girls are not to go in each other's rooms."

Aqualad nodded. "Thank you for your hospitality. We will do our very best to abide by your rules."

Alfred nodded. "Now, come on then. I suppose you'll be wanting to meet Master Richard." He began to go up a long staircase, moving surprisingly quick for a man of his age. "The surgery took a lot out of him, so he's not as active as he usually is. The doctors have him on an at-home IV, and I will take care of putting the proper medicine into it-"

"Wait, so _you'll_ be putting medicine in his IV?" Artemis stopped going up the stairs. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Alfred. "That makes it really easy to poison the kid, I think."

Alfred stopped and set a hand on the bannister. He looked back at her and said, "I've helped raise both Master Bruce and Master Richard. And if I were younger, I'd be out there trying to find this Odessa group myself in order to give them hell. The idea of poisoning Master Richard is the equivalent of me trying to poison my own grandson, and is therefore ridiculous." There was a brief pause where Artemis and the others stood stunned. Alfred then added, "But don't tell Master Richard that. I have a certain level of respect I need to maintain." With that, he began to continue up the stairs.

The others looked at Artemis before following after Artemis. She grumbled, "What? It's _always _the butler…"

Alfred opened the door to Dick's room. "You have guests, Master Richard." He walked in, the Young Justice team falling in behind him.

The team glanced around the room. Dick Grayson's room wasn't very large, but it was far from small. There was a large TV mounted on the wall and a PS3 and Xbox 360 nearby. A bookshelf took up most of one of the walls, and across from it was a desk with a laptop resting on it. Over his bed was a poster advertising and acrobatic group called the Flying Graysons. A few other band and movie posters decorated the walls. Dick himself was lying in bed, propped up on some pillows. The IV stood at attention by his bed, feeding medicine into his arm. When they came in, he was flicking through the channels on his TV.

"Boring, boring, boring…went downhill at season three, boring, boring…" He stopped when he saw the others enter, an eyebrow raising in surprise. "So they sent the Mini Justice League to protect me? I feel _so_ safe." He rolled his blue eyes and sighed. "Do they have you investigating the case, too? Have you made the connection to Odessa?"

The team glanced at each other. This wouldn't be an fun mission, it seemed. Aqualad looked back at him. "The Odessa connection?"

Dick sighed. He made like he was about to get out of bed, but Alfred grabbed his shoulder and pushed him back against the pillows. "Ok, well, it's in one of the books on that shelf over there. After World War Two, S.S. officers were fleeing to avoid being tried for war crimes. And there was a group that may or may not have existed called Odessa. Its purpose was to help S.S. officers escape, and eventually give rise to the Fourth Reich."

"And how does that connect to you?" Artemis asked.

"He's full-blooded Romani." Kid Flash replied. The other members of the team turned and looked at him curiously. "…hey, don't look at me like that because you didn't do _your_ research!"

"What are Romani?" Superboy asked.

"Better known as gypsies." Dick replied. "A group that the Nazis set out to exterminate along with the Jews and others. I just thought it was an interesting connection. A group called Odessa trying to kill me, a gypsy." He looked at them and frowned. "Do all of you _really_ need to be in here? Shouldn't you be spread out across the mansion?"

Aqualad nodded. "You're right. Only one of us really needs to be in here with you. Miss M, you stay here with-"

"No girls and boys alone in a room together." Alfred reminded him.

"I'll stay back." Kid Flash volunteered. He waited impatiently as Aqualad assigned everyone to various parts of the mansion. Finally, the rest of the team left. Alfred gave Dick a pat on the head that was vaguely affectionate before walking out after them. Kid Flash dashed to the side of the bed. "Dude! You should get a freaking Oscar for that!"

Dick smiled a bit. "I don't like acting like a jerk to them…but I have to keep my cover. And don't give me away!"

"I won't." Kid Flash sat on the edge of the bed. "So, how do you feel?"

"Like crap. There is not a pain medication that is strong enough to make this feel ok." Dick replied, gesturing to his chest. "But on the bright side, I'm going to have one awesome scar." He smirked.

Kid Flash grinned. "We'll keep you safe man. And I won't let anyone figure out your identity."

"Thanks." Dick sighed a bit and shifted, trying to make himself comfortable. "I have to admit, though…I was scared. Really scared. I remember I touched my chest and my hand came away _covered_ in blood. They said I died three times during surgery."

"Yeah, well…you're not leaving us until you're at least two feet taller and your hair is gray." Kid Flash said with a smile.

"And if I do?"

"I'll kill you."

"…but-"

"I'll come into the afterlife, drag you back into life, and then kill you again."

"That sounds lovely."

"I know, right?"

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><p>Heh. I love the bromance between Robin and Kid Flash.<p>

Also, who enjoyed the new episode of Young Justice? M'gann and Conner's Southern accents made me laugh hysterically, since I'm actually from the south.


	3. A Few Minutes

M'gann yawned. She was sitting in Dick's desk chair and trying not to sleep. The team had convinced Alfred to allow M'gann to sit in with Dick. It would be easier to let the person with the boy that something was wrong if that person was a telepath. Alfred had finally yielded, and so M'gann took Wally's place in Dick's room. It was around three in the morning. Kaldur and Artemis were resting while Kaldur and Conner kept watch. In another few hours Wally and Artemis would take their places. But M'gann couldn't sleep until seven.

Their first day watching Dick hadn't been so bad. Her impression was that he was rough around the edges. But what else should they have expected? He was a thirteen-year-old boy who had nearly been killed not a few days before. Some part of him, deep down, was probably terrified. And suddenly these strange people…some of them _aliens_…come in and say they're going to be living with him until they're sure he's completely safe. The whole situation must have been deeply uncomfortable for him. Especially since it seemed that only he, his adoptive father, and their butler seemed to live in this giant house. Which must have gotten lonely…there didn't seem to be any other children around…so there must not have been many people to talk to…

"You can go to sleep you know."

Someone clapped. The lights in the room came on. M'gann sat up suddenly. She hadn't realized that she'd been dozing off. Dick was trying to push himself up into a sitting position without causing himself a large amount of pain or ripping his IV out of his arm. She hurried over and helped him.

"I don't want you exhausted when it actually matters, anyway." Dick told her with a frown. M'gann had the curious notion that those eyes of his, those bright blue eyes, could look right through her. As if he could know everything about her by just setting his sights on her.

M'gann chose to ignore his comments. She couldn't sleep; that was a silly notion. It was her job to protect this boy. Snoozing on the job would jeopardize his safety. "Why aren't you asleep? It's very late."

Dick shrugged a bit. "What can I say? I'm on enough pain meds to take down a bull elephant for a week…but it still hurts." He smirked. This was obviously the wrong route to take. Of course, the pain meds were working. It didn't mean he was comfortable. But at least he wasn't in agony. M'gann took him seriously, her freckled green face transforming with the concern of a mother or an older sister. "…but, I'm fine. Don't go waking up Alfred or anything. Or calling the nurses. I just can't sleep is all."

"I'll stay up with you, then!" M'gann replied cheerily. She sat lightly on the edge of his bed, hovering just a bit. "If we're both awake, we might as well talk to each other."

"I…guess." Dick knew he was walking on thin ice. He couldn't talk to his friend like he usually could. This wasn't Miss M, his sorta-kinda big sister. This was Miss Martian. Some crazy Martian chick that was supposed to watch him. There were so many things he couldn't say or do. He couldn't even use 'aster' or 'whelmed', or else she'd know it was him. Heck. He couldn't even do his usual word experiments at all. What other thirteen-year-old boy did that?

M'gann's eyes flicked to the poster above his bed. "Is that you? In the poster?"

"Yeah." Dick replied, shifting uncomfortably. Someone else might have noticed this and realized it wasn't a comfortable subject. But, sadly, M'gann still wasn't adjusted to Earth life. At least…not enough where she could read signals like that.

"Who is that with you? You parents?" M'gann asked.

"Uh, yeah…" Dick said, voice growing fainter. If there was a list of things he didn't like to talk about, his parents would be at the top. It was just an uncomfortable topic. The only person he'd ever discussed his parents with was Bruce. And it hadn't been a very happy conversation.

M'gann looked at him. "Where are they now?"

"They're dead." No use beading around the bush. His bluntness caught M'gann off guard. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized her mistake.

"Oh, right…I'm sorry…I forgot that…I didn't mean to…it's just…we don't have anything like adoption on Mars. Our families are usually very big. So if something happens to our parents, there's always a relative to step in." M'gann began talking very quickly, as she always did. "I'm really sorry. I mean, hello Megan, that was totally insensitive of me."

Dick couldn't help but crack a smile. "Whatever. It's nothing. Don't go getting upset over it." That was another thing. Why was it called getting _up_set? Usually if you were down, you were sad or distressed. So 'up' must be a good thing. But that didn't make sense with 'upset.' Wouldn't it make sense if you were downset? Dick was about to voice this, but remembered that was a very Robin-ish thing to go. Dick Grayson as M'gann knew him was not Robin-ish at all. Secretly, though, he noted his findings. After this he took the opportunity to change the subject. "So, there are a lot of big families on Mars?"

"Oh, yeah. Very big." M'gann replied with a smile. "I have tons of brothers and sisters…what about you?"

"You seen another kid running around this place?" Dick asked with a slight roll of the eyes. In truth, he'd always wanted a baby brother. But it had been impossible for his parents to give him one. His mother could hardly perform if she was pregnant, and they had no one to take her place while she was out. Dick and his father couldn't perform the act with just the two of them. And Bruce had no time for another kid, much less a baby. Sure he had girlfriends…but most of them were for show only. Except maybe Selina. (Though Dick didn't really like her. Something about her was…off.) "Bruce doesn't want any other kids."

"Why not?" M'gann asked. She smiled. "Big families are great! You're never bored, anyway. And he has plenty of room for another kid."

"We have plenty of room for ten more kids." Dick replied. "But Bruce isn't really a 'family man.' He's always busy. Coming and going at all hours…" Technically, that wasn't a lie.

M'gann's eyes went back to the poster. What was her interest with that thing anyway? "What was that for?"

"Me and parents had a circus act together." Dick replied. Once again, he tried to divert the subject. "Do you have anything like that on Mars? Circuses?"

This earned a pause from M'gann. She thought about it, then nodded and smiled. "We do. Mostly those sort of things pop up on special occasions, though. We call them…" She continued to chatter on about some Martian tradition that Dick would never be able to pronounce. The good thing about M'gann is that she could talk enough to keep herself entertained. He simply leaned back and listened to her, commenting here and there. In truth, he really liked Miss M. She was cute (But way out of his league. He'd agreed to let Wally have her, since he had a better chance. Though it seemed Conner was going to win.) and she was sweet. The type of girl he could view as a big sister. Being around her made him feel comfortable. (When she wasn't asking about his parents.) It was times like these when he wondered why he didn't just take off the mask. But he knew the answer deep down.

The vulnerability.

When he'd watched his parents die at the tender age of eight, his own mortality slammed into him like a ton of bricks. Dick realized that one day he would die. No ifs, ands, or buts. And when he'd put his hand to his chest and watched it come away soaked with his own blood, the idea had hit him again. He was human. He was able to be broken. For whatever reason, that concept terrified him. Showing himself as Robin opened himself up to being hurt in all new ways. Maybe not physical…but emotional.

As he was contemplating this, he drifted back off to sleep. M'gann eventually noticed and smiled a bit. She went back to her chair and clapped lightly. The lights went off. She waited for morning to come.

xxxx

"What are you doing?" Kaldur asked as he walked up behind Wally. Alfred had granted them access to one of the computers, and they'd taken advantage of this and hooked the computer up to the mansion's cameras. They could keep an eye on everything now. But Wally wasn't watching the screens. He was looking at an article, his spring green eyes moving across the page quickly.

"Looking into this Odessa group. So far I've only found crazy conspiracy theories." Wally replied, not looking up from the screen. "But Dick was right about their origins. Or their supposed origins, anyway. Odessa is supposed to stand for Organisation Der Ehemaligen SS Angehoerigen. Which basically means they were meant to help former S.S. officers. And I checked out some Neo Nazi websites just for research. They still don't like Romani. What I'm wondering, though, if it's the same group. And if they are a Nazi group, did they shoot him just because of his heritage? Or were they hired or something?"

"We don't yet know if this Odessa is the same as the group that is targeting Dick." Kaldur pointed out. "They might not be associated with the Nazi movement at all."

"Then the second option is that they're being paid by someone to knock him off." Wally said, leaning back in the chair. "But who would want to knock off some thirteen-year-old heir to a billion dollar company…"

Kaldur looked at him, eyes brightening with a sudden realization. "You may have just answered your own question. It is the same as with a kingdom, in a sense. When the king has a child, the child becomes the heir to the throne."

"Uh-huh?" Wally looked at him with skeptical green eyes, wondering where his leader was going with this.

"Until then, there is always someone else in line for the throne. Now, Dick is the heir to Mr. Wayne's company. Maybe there is a person who was going to get it before, but won't be seeing any of it now that it has been left to Dick?" Kaldur suggested.

The speedster paused and considered this. A grin split across his freckled face. "You're on to something. I'll look into who was going to get the company when Wayne killed over _before _the will was revised." A slightly mischievous gleam came into his eye at the thought of catching their crook so quickly. After that, his only worry was making sure his friend made a quick recovery. Though 'quick' probably wasn't the word. With the bullet entering so close to the heart and severing a major artery, it was probably going to be a while. Wally had looked up, in his boredom, a diagram of the human arteries. The one that had been severed transported blood to the lower-body. It occurred to Wally how close his friend had come to nearly dying. In fact, Dick probably _should _have died. The kid just got lucky. It frightened him that he had been so close to losing a best friend and a teammate. A few minutes may have been enough to make a difference.

A few minutes that decided whether the team would be in the mansion, protecting him…or attending a funeral.

He thought of them all dressed in black, standing under an emerald green tent while a coffin was lowered into the ground…

No. Not a coffin. Not the ground.

The Batman's apprentice hated being grounded. He'd spent most of his life up in the air. Whether it be on the trapeze or swinging over the Gotham skyline on a rope tough enough to hang an elephant off the end of it. Dick liked to fly, be up in the air. Being buried underground would be a nightmare for him…

_Why am I thinking about this? _Wally thrust the thought out of his mind. "I'll get on it. But you know, the League is probably on this already."

"I know. But we've got to know what we're up against." Kaldur replied. With that, he walked off to go check on the others.

Wally propped his elbow up on the computer desk and rested his cheek against his hand. He started to flip through the screens of the various cameras, trying to find Alfred. The butler guy obviously knew everything that went on in this place. As Wally was looking through the security camera images, he noticed something strange. A human-shaped shadow, lurking outside the window…one of the windows that was directly behind him. Wally turned in his chair. Nothing. When he glanced back at the camera image, the shadow was gone.

* * *

><p>I focused a lot on the relationship between Dick and M'gann in this one. I think they have a really adorable brother-sister thing going on. It's really adorable.<p>

So psyched for the new episode tonight!


	4. Shooting the Breeze

Ugh. Midterms. Kill me now. But, at least I have a four-day weekend. And in those four days I get to study for my driver's test and my PSATs. FUN.

* * *

><p>"Conner!" Kid Flash dashed into the room, skidding to a halt. The clone had been patrolling the enter mansion, keeping in constant mental contact with M'gann. "Tell the others we've got someone outside. They're probably going to try to get into the-"<p>

Upstairs there was a loud female scream and multiple loud thuds. The two boys froze and looked at each other for a moment. Their minds were slowly processing the voice…and slowly realizing it wasn't Artemis' or M'gann's. Kid Flash dashed up the stairs, and Superboy followed after him. Kid Flash bolted past Aqualad and Artemis, who were just starting up the stairs. He opened the door to Dick's room and found a girl in a school uniform holding a large book in front of her face. More books lay scattered across the floor. The bookcase, which was previously neat and tidy, had decided to spill half a shelf's worth of books on to the floor. M'gann was standing there stunned. Dick slowly woke up from his sleep and sat up with a bit of difficulty.

"…Barbara? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I tried to bring you your homework, but all the doors were locked!" Barbara replied. "So I climbed up into your window and this…green chick threw a ball of light at me or something and she missed! Why are all these superheroes in your _house_?"

Kid Flash felt relief flooding into him. That shadow he'd seen hadn't been an assassin. It had been Barbara. Dick had told him a little about her. She went to Gotham Academy on a scholarship. They were best friends, if only because they got stuck at boring galas together. Her father was the Commissioner, so he was invited to fancy parties a lot. And Dick was the son of Bruce Wayne…who threw a lot of fancy parties. So during these the two would sneak off and sit in the garden, drinking punch and talking about school and Gotham and the mysteries of life.

Around that moment, Conner, Kaldur, and Artemis burst in.

"False alarm, guys." Kid Flash said.

Dick smirked. "What? Is a schoolgirl really that big of a threat?"

Artemis had come in with her bow drawn. She kept an arrow knocked and pointed at Barbara, who was narrowing her eyes at her. "Who _is_ she? How did she get in here? We're on the second floor!"

"It isn't that bad of a climb." Barbara replied. "Again, I ask: why are all these superheroes in your house!"

"Protection." Dick replied.

Barbara threw the book down and put her hands on her hips. Her fear of them had obviously worn off. Now there was only a burning desire to know what was going on. "Protection? Because of the shooting? Dick, that's what the _police_ are for-"

He frowned at her. "Barbara, you know and I know that your dad is probably the only non-corrupt cop in Gotham. They're protecting me while the League investigates the whole thing. My dad asked for their help _specifically_."

The girl took off her backpack and walked over to his bed. She pulled out two textbooks and about ten worksheets. "Here's all the work you missed. And the Gotham police are on the case, too. The stockholders hired someone. They were going to get the company divided between them if Wayne didn't leave it to someone. But the guy who was going to get the most of it was a man named Arty Blano. Blano left town last week."

Artemis slowly lowered her bow. Aqualad gave Barbara a long, hard look. "How do you know this?"

The redhead turned to look at him. "My dad is the Commissioner of Police. I keep tabs on what goes on at his work."

"You better go. We've been told to keep this area secure." M'gann said gently.

"Yeah. It must be _very_ secure if a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl can sneak in." Dick replied with a roll of his eyes. "Thanks for the work, Barbara."

She nodded at him. "Now, am I allowed to leave through the door or should I go back out the window?"

The team stood aside to let her walk out of the door. She waved at Dick. "Text me." With that, she walked out. There was a prolonged silence before Dick began to laugh. Before the distinct cackle could register in any of his friends' minds, Kid Flash dashed over and hit Dick lightly on the arm.

"What are you laughing about?" Kid Flash yelled. He found it hard not to laugh or smile. Dick was one of those people you couldn't even _pretend_ to be mad at. The boy's smirk didn't fade, but he got the hint and stopped laughing. "We'll have to tell her to stay out. We were told to keep the perimeter secure."

Dick chuckled. "And you've done a fantastic job of that. Good luck keeping Barbara out. She doesn't listen to anyone. Not her parents, not our teachers, not me…she does what she wants, when she wants."

"Reminds me of someone else." Kid Flash glanced at Artemis, who put her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Kaldur sighed. "Alright. Everyone, back to your stations. Remain on alert."

"Yeah. A Girl Scout might come in next!" Dick taunted them.

xxxx

Kaldur had Wally check to make sure Barbara's facts were correct. He also asked Wally to do a little research on Barbara herself. Everything checked out with her. She was fourteen years old, went to Gotham Academy. She was always on the school's honor roll. Though she had a history of pranking, Wally knew for a fact most of them had been Dick's ideas. Her story checked out as well. A man named Arty Blano was poised to inherit most of Wayne Industries…until little Dick came along, anyway.

When M'gann went to bed, Wally switched out with her to sit in with Dick. While Dick worked on his homework, Wally took the opportunity to talk to him about Blano.

"Do you know that Blano guy she was talking about?" Wally asked.

"Yeah, I know him. Hey, Battle of Waterloo. 1815 or 1819?" Dick asked, not looking up from a worksheet.

"1815." Wally replied. Dick scribbled it down. "So you've met him before?"

"Yeah. He's always at Bruce's parties. To be honest, I never really liked him. He gives off that I'm-a-pedo vibe and usually smells like beer. When I was younger, I would run and hide behind Bruce when I saw him. Or if I didn't know where he was, I'd hide in the rafters. The guy gave me the creeps." Dick explained as he looked over the carefully written notes Barbara had taken for him. Since he was in a lot of upper-level courses, he missed a lot when he missed even one day. Barbara was doing her best to make sure he didn't go under in terms of schoolwork. Bless her. Dick looked over the notes, then flitted his eyes up to Wally. "I mean, I'm sure he's not a pedo. I just got a bad vibe off him."

Wally thought about it. Dick trusted his gut instincts. It was what he'd been trained to do. Because those instincts were usually correct. If Dick got a bad vibe off of someone, there was usually a reason behind it. "How did this guy act around you?"

The other boy paused as he thought about it. In his memories were an endless stream of boring charity events and parties, where he mostly stood next to Bruce and wished they could be somewhere else. It was hard to differentiate between them. But he managed to dig up some old memories that were lying tucked away in that incredibly dull part of his memory. "When I was just a foster kid, he was a lot friendlier. Then when the adoption was finalized, he got more reserved."

"Figures." Wally replied. "I'll look into this guy more. And try to get the security tighter. For your sake."

"Don't feel too bad. I've kind of been teaching Barbara a few tricks here and there. Mostly stealth stuff. She's got fighting down, ya know. Been doing karate since she can walk. She's supposed to take her black belt test this week…" Dick frowned, realizing suddenly he wouldn't be able to make it. Alfred would hardly let him out of bed. Going to watch his friend get her black belt was completely out of the question. In reality, he probably wouldn't have made it anyways. His duties as Robin came first before everything: school, friends, and his own personal needs. Half the time his plans with Barbara fell through because of them. Study sessions, lunches at the diner, trips to the mall…usually, Barbara took these very well. She was an active, popular girl. When plans with him fell through, Barbara usually had a back-up plan waiting in the wings. But still. Dick had wanted to be there for her.

His friend stared at him in slight disbelief. "Um…why?"

"Because." Dick gave no other answer. It was a childish response, but hey. He was only thirteen. He couldn't grow up _too_ fast. "I'm sure you guys are doing great. At least, Robin thinks you are."

"What does Dick think?" Wally asked.

"Dick thinks that he's going to get addicted to the new pain medicine they're giving him, because that is _good stuff_. He also thinks having someone watching him while he sleeps in unnerving and near impossible." Dick leaned back against the pillows with a slight sigh. They'd changed his medicine and given him a new cocktail of pain meds. These worked better than the last. Though the doctors warned Alfred these could get addictive, and he should be off of them as soon as possible. But they did help him sleep. It was difficult for him to go to bed with M'gann or Kaldur or Conner or Artemis or even Wally sitting right there. It was awkward. "He also thinks his dad should freaking call him so he knows he's not dead."

Wally felt a slight rush of sympathy for him. The relationship between Dick and Bruce was…tense? Odd? Well, it was something. They knew how to work well as Batman and Robin…but they still weren't clear on how to work as a father and a child. Now that years had passed, they had a better idea. But there were still some lines that neither of them ever crossed. Bruce never called him 'son' or anything like that. Dick never tried to_ be_ his son. Though Wally secretly thought that Dick's thirst for Bruce's approval stemmed from that whole shaky father-son thing they had going on. Not that he would ever say that. "I'm sure he's fine. I mean, he's the _Batman_ for God's sake. Nothing bad ever happens to him. You're the one that gets captured. Not him."

"You're hilarious." Dick replied. There was a frown on his face, but Wally knew from the look in his eyes that he was laughing inwardly. "I don't know Blano that well. If you want more info, go to Alfred. He knows everything."

"Oh yeah…where is the old guy?" Wally asked.

"No idea. Probably cleaning. Or in the Batcave." Dick said. He looked up at the ceiling. Having people around the house made him nervous. Dick was always afraid they'd discover the Batcave. The entrance to it (or one of them) was hidden in the mansion's living room. Dick had discovered it completely by accident when he was nine. He'd been running around the house after the RC car he'd tried to program. The thing was going hay-wire and zooming all over the house. Eventually, it zipped into the living room. Alfred had just mopped, and Dick was sent sliding across the hardwood floors. He'd grabbed a hold of the marble bust of Bruce's father to try and steady himself. Instead, the bust bent backwards. Dick fell to the floor as the grandfather clock raised itself up and exposed an express elevator.

The rest was history.

The boy sighed. It seemed like so long ago. Training was what he and Bruce had bonded over. It had been strange for him when he learned why Bruce chose to become Batman. Their stories were so similar. How could the two of them be so alike and so different at the same time? "I'm worried about him. I mean…he's never the best when it comes to communicating. But I thought he'd at least call to tell me no one had killed him yet." Dick paused. "But don't tell him I said that."

His friend chuckled. "Is 'love' like a dirty word in this house? That Alfred guy told us that he considered you to be his grandson…but not to tell you. And you don't want me to tell Bats that you were worried about him. Not that I can…he's not supposed to know that I know."

"We call it the L word in this household, thank you very much." Dick answered with a matter-of-fact tone. It sounded like he was only half-joking. "Now quit shooting the breeze and go do your job." He smiled a bit.

The redhead rolled his eyes and whacked Dick lightly on the back of the head before walking out.

* * *

><p>I seriously did not plan for Barbara to be in this chapter. And then I saw the new episode, had a moment, and decided to psyche you guys out. My apologies!<p> 


	5. Neo Nazis with Assault Rifles

Back again folks! Midterms are over and I have a four day weekend! Hoping to get you guys another chapter in that time!

* * *

><p>Somehow, Conner got stuck with the kid.<p>

Wally ran into some distant part of the manor, saying something about research. Kaldur and Artemis took up their stations again. M'gann went to sleep. The butler vanished again after briefly checking on his young master. So guess who got stuck with the kid? That's right. Conner. It wasn't even that interesting of a job. He just sat in the chair in front of the kid's computer while the kid slept. He considered turning on the TV, but he didn't want to wake him up. Eventually Conner's eyes went to the bookshelf. It had been lovingly rearranged by M'gann after she'd hit it with a ball of energy. Briefly, the clone's eyes flitted to the kid. He was still sleeping. Conner got up and went to the bookcase. The titles weren't all strange to him. Some of them, like a Tale of Two Cities, he recognized. Perhaps it was part of the information that had been pumped into his brain?

There was one book that was unmarked. Conner pulled it out and opened it. The first picture was clipped out of a newspaper. It was of a handsome man in a suit standing in front of the mansion. A young boy, who was probably the kid at a younger age, was standing beside him with a backpack slung over his shoulder. The man was smiling. The kid wasn't. There was a date below the picture that said: _July 16__th__, 2006. Dick arrives._

Conner flipped to the next page. It had more pictures clipped out from the newspaper. Each had dates and little captions, written in neatly underneath them. _Dick's first press conference. Dick's first gala_. _Dick meets the president. _As he flipped, the newspaper pictures turned into actual pictures. Christmases, birthdays, Halloween…each of them carefully placed and dated by the same handwriting. There were a lot of pictures of the kid and the man together. It dawned on him that the man was Bruce Wayne. The adoptive father of the kid. They looked really happy in most of the pictures. A real, true-blue, father and son. Conner frowned.

"Like my birthday present?"

Conner jumped. The kid was sitting up. Wide awake and watching him with those bright blue eyes of his. "Uh…yeah."

"Bruce made it for me when I turned thirteen. Kind of surprised me. He's not the sentimental type." Dick commented, looking at the scrapbook. "Usually he's really busy. Work and stuff. We both have a lot of responsibilities. You must get that."

Conner raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Your dad is freaking _Superman_. One minute he's saving someone in Louisiana, an hour later he's in Pakistan, and then an hour after that he's in D.C." Dick leaned back against the pillows, shivering a bit. The medication the IV was pumping into his arm was making him cold again. It felt like ice water was being injected into his veins. Before Conner could say anything, Dick continued. "You know, Bruce was _really_ awkward around me at first. He adopted me because he felt bad for me. That was it. He wasn't really ready to be a dad. But I kind of forced him to." Those had probably been some of the worst days of his life. Not because Bruce was just that bad of a dad at the beginning…but because he wasn't really a dad at all. He regarded him with cold formality in a time when Dick needed someone's shoulder to cry on. "He learned. Sometimes people just aren't ready to be parents. So when they get a kid shoved on to their lap, they freak out. But they learn. I mean…if Bruce can learn to be a dad, I think anyone can."

Conner nodded a bit. What the kid said made a bit of sense. But that didn't lesson the anger or hurt he felt towards Superman. Still. It was kind of nice to know that someone else knew how he felt…even if it wasn't completely the same.

"So…uh…why isn't your real dad around?" Conner asked. He felt like he should at least try to say something.

The boy winced. Why was it that the aliens couldn't pick up on what was a touchy subject and what wasn't? "He's dead."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"…want to watch TV?"

"Sure."

Dick turned on the TV leaned back, shivering some more. He saw Conner slide the scrapbook back on to the shelf and smiled a bit. Though seeing the scrapbook reminded him of Bruce. Dick reached over to his phone and opened it. The screen lit up invitingly. But he only had a text from Barbara. He sighed and set it back down without responding.

xxxx

The internet was a fantastic place.

Wally had figured out that Arty Blano had a Twitter. The guy seemed like your Class A rich douchebag. He followed a bunch of Playboy bunnies, bragged about his awesome stuff, tried to be funny but wasn't, etc. The picture of him kind of creeped Wally out. The guy had curly brown hair, beady black eyes, and a beard. Seriously. Who the hell had a beard these days? But, using his Twitter account, Wally found out his e-mail address. He used a few simple hacking tricks (Social media security was never that hard to break through.) and found out Blano's password.

"Blano64. Clever, Arty." Wally chuckled to himself when the password was revealed. He used it to get into Blano's e-mail account. Everything from there was easy. All of the e-mails were still there. From what he could gather, it started a few months before with an e-mail Blano sent:

_I hear you people get rid of pests._

The response came not five minutes after he sent the e-mail:

_We do._

They began haggling over prices.0 Eventually they settled on five million. Wally whistled at the figure. At least Dick's life wasn't cheap to these people. From what he could gather from the e-mails, Blano had hired some group to get rid of Dick. Was it Odessa?

Wally called in Kaldur and told him his findings.

"We will have to get in touch with Batman. He is in charge of this investigation, if I am not mistaken." Kaldur said as he looked over the e-mails Wally showed him. "This is a good lead. Yet it tells us nothing about this Odessa group."

The speedster leaned back in the chair. "Does it matter? They're a group that specializes in assassinations. It's right there in black and white. We can get in touch with the League. They can drag Blano off to prison and we can get to work on figuring out Odessa." He paused. Wally knew that Bruce had not gotten in touch with Dick yet. Which meant he probably was already busy enough. "Besides, Bats is probably busy enough already. I doubt we'll be able to contact him."

His friend mulled this over. "You're right. We should probably try to get in touch with Robin. No doubt he will be with him, and he will be easier to contact-"

"No!" Wally said too quickly. Kaldur looked at him curiously. "I mean…Robin is probably just as busy. Batman works him like a dog. You know that."

"Right." Kaldur said slowly. "Have you had any contact with either of them in these past few days?"

"I've been talking to Robin every now and then. He hasn't given me much info, though." Wally replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie.

Kaldur nodded. "Next time you speak with him, try to learn what you can."

"Aye aye, captain." He saluted his leader jokingly. Wally felt an inward surge of relief as the Atlantian walked away. Meanwhile, his friend noted how quickly Wally had responded.

There was something going on with Robin. Something that Wally knew and wasn't telling them. Kaldur could figure that much out on his own. But what was it? Why was he hiding it? Was Robin not their teammate? If something was wrong, he would want to know. They would _all_ want to know. On the other hand…Robin was an extremely capable person. And with Batman with him, he probably wouldn't be getting into too much trouble. Not to mention they had a mission of their own. So for now, he could let it slide.

xxxx

Alfred came in with a tray full of food and medicine. Not only did Dick have to stay hooked up to the IV, but he also had to take a colorful assortment of antibiotics and vitamins to make sure the healing process went smoothly. All of the medication was starting to get on his nerves. The IV, the pills…he couldn't even get out of bed! By the time he was able to get back in the gym, he'd be nothing but a toothpick.

"I don't feel like eating right now, Alfred." Dick said, eyeing the food with distaste. "Can you throw it in the fridge for later?"

"I have strict instructions from the doctor. You need to eat. An apple away keeps the doctor away, you know." Alfred replied curtly.

"An apple a day doesn't keep the armed assassins away." Dick rolled his eyes. Suddenly his phone lit up and began vibrating against the top of his nightstand. Quickly, he grabbed the phone and answered it. "It's about time you called! Where are you?"

"Somewhere in South America. Not sure of the town name." Bruce replied. It was good to hear his voice. No matter the situation, Bruce _always_ sounded calm. If you were a dad, that was a good quality to have. Often kids don't freak out until their parents freak out. So if _you_ sounded calm while fighting a giant mutated crocodile man, your young apprentice/son was going to be calm as well.

Dick automatically felt a rush of relief. Bruce was ok. Of course he was. Like Wally said…he was the freaking _Batman_. "You have signal in a village in South America? Nice. So what have you got? The team already linked Arty Blano to it."

"I have, too. I'm tracking the Odessa group now. Their headquarters is somewhere in the area." Bruce replied.

"So what's the story on them…Alfred, I said I'm not hungry!" Dick frowned as Alfred gave him a pointed look and gestured to the tray.

"Eat your food, Richard." Bruce's voice had a hint of amusement in it. The two of them were a lot alike. Whenever Bruce was sick, he would often do the same thing. Refuse food, try to get out of bed and work, etc…

The boy wonder frowned. But he did as he was told, picking up an apple and biting into it. The apple tasted pretty good. But Dick still had to force himself to chew it. His appetite just wasn't there. After swallowing his first bite of apple, he spoke again. "So, Odessa. Who are they?"

"They started out as a group helping S.S. officers to escape after the fall of the Third Reich. From what I've been able to discern, they still hold to some Nazi tendencies in terms of who they allow to join up. But over the years they evolved into a group of assassins for hire." Bruce explained.

"So basically…Neo Nazis with assault rifles."

"In a nutshell, yes."

"Great. But why are they in South America?" Dick wished he could be there with him. Anything was better than being in bed and watched constantly by his own friends.

"Many prominent figures in the Third Reich fled here to escape being tried for war crimes. Odessa probably helped them get settled there, and stayed there." Bruce replied. There was a pause. Dick forced himself to take another bite out of the apple and swallow it. On the other end, it sounded like Bruce was looking through some papers. Finally Bruce said, "How is everything at home?"

"Right now they're all eating downstairs. I can't talk to Alfred about anything when Conner is even on the same floor. You know…the whole super-hearing thing. Couldn't he have a different super-power? Like…super-deafness. That would be more beneficial to me right now." Dick sighed. He looked at the apple again. His stomach did a flip. But Alfred gave him another look, so he bit into it again. "Also, I hate being bed-ridden."

"Well, just put up with it for a few days more. The team, that is. You're still staying in bed until the doctor says otherwise." Bruce told him sternly. "I'm almost done here. It shouldn't take too long to wrap up. I'll be home soon."

"Kay." Dick replied. There was another pause. He felt a wave of nausea hit him and swallowed as he fought it back.

"And…I…well, you know I-"

"Right back at you, B-man." Dick said hurriedly. He heard Bruce hang up, and tossed the phone back on to the nightstand. Without thinking about it, he threw the covers off of himself and got out of bed. The IV jerked painfully out of his arm and the stand fell over as he stumbled into the bathroom.

Alfred sighed and picked up the IV stand as a series of loud retching noises came from the bathroom. "Are you alright, Master Richard?"

"I'm never eating apples again." Dick moaned.

* * *

><p>I have a feeling that all the teammates are going to get a bonding moment with him at some point.<p>

And the gross throwing-up scene is relevant, I promise.


	6. An Apple a Day

This day has been CRAZY.

Lucky for you guys that this chapter was pretty much done by the time I got home!

* * *

><p>Hospitals sucked.<p>

In fact, they kind of freaked Dick out. They were too clean and they smelled weird. Plus you had no privacy. Doctors would come in every hour or so to poke and prod you. Or sometimes it was a nurse, with more pills or another shot to give you. Add that together with repeated and violent vomiting, and you've got yourself one crappy situation.

Dick had been rushed to the hospital by Alfred, with the team flying just above their car in M'gann's ship. (On camouflage mode, of course.) All because he kept vomiting. After eating those three bites of apple, he'd been getting sick once every ten minutes. Every time he ate it just came right back up. He couldn't even hold water down. This put him at severe risk for dehydration. So that was how he ended up in the bathroom adjacent to his hospital room, throwing up into the toilet while the nurse stood beside the IV stand. By that point, he felt awful. His ears were ringing, his head was light from the lack of food, he was shaking from lack of_ any_ nutrition, and his throat felt like it had been scraped raw.

"Totally not feeling the aster." He mumbled to himself when he was done.

The nurse pulled him back to his feet and helped him back into bed. She said something about talking to the doctor about feeding some more nausea medication into his IV. But Dick had a feeling it wasn't going to help. He glanced towards Kaldur and M'gann. They were the ones who'd decided to stay in his room with him. Artemis, Wally, and Conner were guarding his room from the outside.

Dick tried to smirk. "Either of you feel like doing a mercy killing?"

M'gann bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry you feel so badly. I wish I knew more Martian healing techniques…but I only really know how to help with injuries. Not sicknesses."

"It might not be a sickness." Kaldur said. "It might be something else."

It dawned on Dick that Kaldur was suggesting someone might have tried to poison him. The thought didn't even occur to him before then. (Though he _had_ just spent the majority of the last few hours with his head in a toilet, so it was understandable that his mind was elsewhere.) But it was possible. One of the nurses that came to his home could have been paid to put something extra in his IV. Whatever poison they'd used, it probably wasn't the best. The most obvious choice was arsenic…but you can spot that pretty quickly. They probably wanted something that wouldn't be spotted until too late. But instead of being absorbed into his system were it could get to work, his body rejected it. Repeatedly.

"Poison, you mean." Dick said. His voice was hoarse. "It's possible."

All of the sudden, Barbara ran into the room and skidded a bit on the tile. She was still dressed in her blue school uniform. For whatever reason, she must have come straight from the school.

Dick laughed. It hurt a bit. Not only was his throat sore, but so was the wound on his chest. They hadn't been giving him pain meds. Just in case his vomiting was a reaction to all of the new medicines. "Babs, they told you you're not allowed to see me."

She shrugged, casting a suspicious glance at Kaldur and M'gann. When they didn't bother trying to get her to leave, she walked over to the side of his bed and sat down. "I went to my dad's work right before school to give him something. They have a break in your case. Alfred called the police after he dropped you off here, and they looked over your IV to make sure there wasn't any poison. And they found something called Zulu Water."

"Zulu Water?" Kaldur asked. He was looking at Barbara with silver eyes, his curiosity piqued. Perhaps his suspicions had been confirmed?

Barbara nodded. "It's a rare poison from Africa. It's clear and has no smell. It looks just like water. It's not the strongest poison out there, but it's hard to detect until it's too late. The only reason they ran a test for it was because someone used the same poison on that judge just last week." She looked him over, frowning. "You look a lot better than you should for someone who's been poisoned with that stuff. They don't know why your body didn't absorb the poison. It probably had a bad reaction with something you'd recently ingested."

"Like what?" Dick asked.

"The toxicologist said it might have had something to do with ursolic acid. Zulu Water doesn't react well with that stuff." Barbara replied.

"…ursolic acid?" Dick asked.

"Yeah." Barbara raised an eyebrow at him as he started to laugh. He kept laughing until there were tears in his eyes. "What's so funny?"

"Ursolic acid is a chemical in apple peels." Dick replied with a grin.

xxxx

Despite narrowly escaping being fatally poisoned, Dick insisted on going home as soon as he was able. So the next morning they went back to the manor. His vomiting had subsided. Apparently, his system was satisfied that all of the poison was out of his body. When he was home, Alfred didn't hook him back up to the IV. He allowed Dick his antibiotics, but the boy would have to deal with the pain for a while. They couldn't be sure his IV wasn't contaminated with something worse than Zulu Water. The result was a very cranky thirteen-year-old who had a deep, aching pain that started at his staples and penetrated into his chest.

"It could be worse." Wally told him. He was sitting in with the boy again, trying to keep him company. "I mean…you could have been shot. Oh wait…well, you could have been poisoned. Oh…well, your name could be slang for male genitalia…wait, crap." He grinned a bit. Cheering up his friend usually wasn't that hard. And even then, Dick smiled slightly.

Dick's phone rang. He reached over too quickly and grabbed it. Pain exploded in his chest and he gritted his teeth as he answered. "Hey."

"What's wrong?" Bruce recognized the pain in his voice automatically.

"Nothing, nothing. How are things?" Dick tried to brush off the pain.

"More complicated than originally anticipated. I'll be a few days more." Bruce replied. "Now what is wrong with you? You sound worse than last time I spoke with you."

"Minor attempted poisoning." Dick said. "We think the nurses put some poison in the medicine, so when Alfred put it in my IV it would kill me. I'm not dead though, so we're all good." Without even hearing Bruce's voice or seeing his face, he knew that his adoptive father had that look on his face. That concerned I-don't-believe-you're-as-ok-as-you-say-you-are look. "Seriously, don't worry about it. My body did the whole clean-up thing for me. They didn't have to pump my stomach or anything. I just puked a lot."

"Are you drinking enough water?" Bruce asked.

"Alfred hasn't let my glass get empty."

"Have you eaten anything?"

"Some crackers and part of a bagel." Dick admitted reluctantly.

"Eat a real meal soon. You need something healthy on your stomach." Bruce's voice was stern as ever. Dick found himself almost smiling. What he'd said to Conner a day or two before was true. So maybe Bruce wasn't the father of the year. But he cared. He was strict and, at times, ruthless with him. All because he wanted him to be the best he could be. After all…there were other things implied when Bruce told Dick that he would inherit pretty much everything he owned. The mansion, the company. Inheriting the company meant a lot to him…but the underlying message meant even more: _One day, you'll be Batman._ Bruce hadn't said it. But he didn't need to. There were some things between the two of them that didn't have to be said, because they'd learned to sense it.

_I love you._

_I was worried about you._

_I missed you._

"I will. I promise." Dick said. "Don't take too long. And don't get shot. Or stabbed. Or dismembered. Or-"

There was a slight chuckle on the other end. "I'll be alright. Take care of yourself. Stay in bed. Keep hydrated." _I'm worried about you. _

Dick grinned. "I will, I will. I've got enough videogames to keep me preoccupied." _I'm fine. _

"I have to go. Be good for Alfred." _I love you. _

"I will. Don't get shot in the face. Come home soon." _I love you too. I miss you._

"If anyone's at risk of being shot, it's you. And I'd rather not go through that again. I'll call you and Alfred tomorrow." _I miss you too. _

They hung up at the same time. Dick allowed himself a groan of pain that he'd been holding back. His chest felt like someone were stabbing it repeatedly. With a dull, rusty knife. "Wally, my friend…could you be an awesome person and knock me out? Hit me over the head with the lamp, for all I care."

"Not happening, bro." Wally said. "So what's up with Bats?"

"He'll be a few days more. Which is Bat-talk for: 'This just got super dangerous but I'm not going to tell you that because you have a chest wound and were nearly poisoned and God knows what else.' So you guys are going to be here for a few days more." Dick replied with a sigh. Things would be a lot better when Bruce got home. He wouldn't have to worry about anyone discovering the Batcave, or giving away who he was.

His friend stared at him for a minute. "So do you guys have like…a secret language? Or are you just telepathic?"

"Both."

"Figures."

xxxx

"Am I the only one who thinks this place is super creepy?" Artemis was sitting on the couch. Kaldur had called them all into the living room after dinner to discuss what had happened, and they were waiting on Wally. (How could one of the fastest people on the planet be late for _everything_?) "It's so big and…empty."

"It is a bit unnerving." Kaldur admitted. "But it is our responsibility to watch out for Dick."

"We haven't done a very good job of that so far." Conner said with a frown. He crossed his muscled arms over his chest. "So far, a fourteen-year-old schoolgirl has managed to sneak past us and he's been poisoned!"

M'gann looked at Kaldur, her face filled with concern. "Conner is right. So far, we haven't been doing so well. We need to step it u-"

Wally dashed in. He skidded along the floor as he tried to use the traction on his shoes to slow himself down. In the end, he slammed right into the marble bust of some guy. The team's eyes widened as they expected it to fall over and crash on the floor. But the thing stayed stable. Almost as if it was bolted to the floor. Wally's expression turned to relief. "Awesome. So, what did I miss?"

"We suck at babysitting." Artemis replied.

"Oh, well that's kind of obvious." Wally leaned against the bust. It was pretty sturdy. It seemed to support all his weight. "But, in our defense, it's not like we could have prevented the poisoning thing. Are we supposed to test his medicine before we hook it up to him?"

The team began discussing preemptive measures to keep things like the poisoning from being on the repeat. Wally set his arm on the top of the bust's head as he leaned against it…and then the head began to move. It tilted back at an angle. Artemis noticed it first and looked on with horror. "What did you _do_?"

The rest of the team's attention turned to the grandfather clock that was slowly rising. It revealed a sleek express elevator, waiting to take them down into who knows what.

"…ok, here's an idea: let's all pretend we never saw this." Wally said slowly. He had a good guess as to where that elevator led. And it was a sure-fire way for Dick to come under suspicion. "Last time we found a hidden express elevator, we got Supes over there. One is enough."

The team was already moving towards the elevator, looking it over warily. Conner got in and set a hand on the interior of the elevator. M'gann, Artemis, and Kaldur got in behind him. Wally, after a moment of hesitation, sighed and got in behind them. They waited a few moments. Then suddenly the elevator doors slid closed. It began to move downwards very rapidly. After about thirty seconds, it came to a stop. The doors opened.

They'd all heard Robin talk about the Batcave. But for some reason, none of them ever pictured it as an actual cave. They thought it was just a clever name. Nope. It was, quite literally, a cave. A very large one at that. (And, yes. There were bats in it.) The thing had various levels and platforms, each equipped for something different. There was a miniature forensic lab, multiple specialized training platforms, and a platform housing a variety of vehicles. Including a Batmobile, a jet, and Robin's motorcycle. And in the very center was a multitude of computer monitors. The largest was easily as big as a car.

"…the Grayson kid as some explaining to do." Conner grunted.

"We're…we're in the _Batcave_." Artemis said, shocked. She looked at her friends with huge, wide eyes. "The Batcave!"

"Oh, boy." Wally sighed.


	7. The Perfect Storm

Another chapter.

Boo to the ya.

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><p>The team, without really meaning to, began to drift around the cave in a sort of shocked state. They looked over the training platforms and various other oddities of the cave. Such as a full-scale replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Artemis found a series of large colorful balls, like the ones seals play with at the circus. Wally was the only one who remained where he was. Some part of him could feel Batman glaring at him, as if the guy knew what they found even though he was somewhere in remote South America. Though it was still somewhat interesting where his best friend spent all of his time. Dick often said he ate meals in the Batcave with Bruce, did his homework there, goofed around there…Wally could see how it was possible. The place had everything.<p>

Wally he backed off and watched the others with growing dismay. There was already suspicion in their eyes. It was practically impossible for someone to not notice an express elevator to the Batcave in their house. Bruce, at least, had to know about this. But maybe the team would think Dick had no idea…

"Accessing: Training Footage." A robotic, slightly female voice announced. Artemis was over at the Master Computer, looking at it curiously.

The screen came alive, and the camera was focused on Dick.

"The universe is out to get me today." Wally slapped his forehead as his hopes went flying out the window.

The others turned and watched. Dick was crouching and still, like a runner before the starting bullet. On an unspoken signal, he was off and running an obstacle course. It had never occurred to Wally how hard his friend had to train just to be able to keep up with his super-powered teammates. He hadn't been born with his skills. He was always working on them. Artemis found about five hundred more videos, stretching all the way back to 2007, of Dick training. On many of them Dick (or possibly Bruce) had edited the video to point out mistakes. There were other videos of Bruce training, and of them both training together.

"I can't believe it…" Artemis murmured. "We've been babysitting _Robin_!"

"That's what my uncle meant…he said this mission is more important to us than we realize." M'gann said, looking at the others. "Our own friend's life was in our hands, and we didn't know it…"

Conner frowned. "Why didn't he say something?"

"Batman and Robin have always enjoyed their privacy. And, if I am not mistaken, Batman does not allow Robin to reveal his identity to anyone." Kaldur explained. He looked the least shaken by this discovery. Wally wondered if he'd had his own suspicions. After all, Kaldur had known Robin almost as long as he had. Perhaps Dick's act hadn't completely fooled him. But while Kaldur looked cool and collected as he said this…Wally looked guilty.

Conner picked up on this immediately. He narrowed his eyes at the speedster. "You knew, didn't you?"

Everyone turned to look at Wally.

"Well…um…" Wally rubbed the back of his neck.

"You've got to be kidding me! Why didn't you tell us?" Artemis demanded angrily. "Didn't we just have a big thing about withholding information and _trusting_ each other?"

Wally narrowed his eyes. "A mole is one thing! Someone's privacy is another! Rob and I have known each other for years-"

"But he's known Kaldur for years, too!" Conner interjected. "And he obviously had no idea."

"He asked me not to tell you. In fact, we swore in blood that we wouldn't tell anyone each other's identities! In _blood_! That stuff is more legit than a pinky promise!" Wally argued. He could still remember that night. Wally had been in Gotham while his uncle helped Batman with something. The sidekicks had been dismissed and told to go have fun. So they changed into their civvies and roamed the city. Eventually Wally, then twelve years old, had suggested they go to the circus. Ten-year-old Robin wasn't too keen on the idea, but went anyway.

Everything had been fun until the acrobats came out. They'd laughed at the clowns, and Robin told a story about his first real run-in with the Joker. As time wore on, Robin became more comfortable. And then…

"_Ladies and gentlemen…I present to you…the Grayson Ghosts!"_

Immediately, Robin went stiff. He turned pale. Almost as pale as the three acrobats that jumped out. There was a man, a woman, and a young boy. They'd used make-up to make their skin pale, with dark circles around their eyes. They dressed in tattered and bloody costumes, to make them look more undead. Wally had thought it was just a made-up story about a family of acrobats. From what he saw of the routine, it was really good. Appropriately creepy. And then about half-way through when two of the acrobats pretended to fall, Robin stood up and ran out.

Wally found him on a corner somewhere in downtown, curled up and crying. Young Robin had spilled the entire story to him and apologized for running out and ruining his fun. After that, Wally had been angry. Not at his friend. At the circus, for trying to make money off of the deaths of two acrobats. He stayed with Robin. Afterwards, Robin made him swear not to tell.

"_You can't tell Batman I told! Or anyone! Ever!"_

_"I won't, I promise. Not even if I'm tortured."_

"_Cross your heart and hope to die?"_

"_And stick a needle in my eye!"_

It had been Wally's idea to swear in blood. He got out his pocket knife and made a small cut in his palm. Dick took the knife and did the same. They shook on it. Since then, he'd never broken his promise. It had been harder to keep the secret when he was younger and more talkative. But he only had to look at the thin scar on his palm to remind himself that he'd given his friend his word. And he refused to go back on it.

The young speedster shook himself back to the present. "It wasn't my secret to tell. If you have such a problem with it, go talk to Dick about it."

Artemis stormed towards the elevator. Conner followed after her. M'gann floated after him, yelling for him to stop and just respect Robin's privacy. This prompted an argument over how the League, Batman, _and_ Robin had lied to them. Kaldur followed after them, trying to break up the argument. Wally sighed and darted into the elevator. Artemis gave him the stink-eye on the way back up, and M'gann and Conner kept yelling at each other. He dashed up the stairs to get to Dick's room. Might as well give the kid a head's-up.

He stopped at the doorway.

Alfred was laying in the floor, unconscious. The bed sheets on Dick's bed were rumpled. There was obvious evidence of a struggle. Books on the floor. A hole in the wall as if someone had punched through it. And blood. There was a small puddle of it staining the carpet, and some more smeared on the wall near the window.

Dick was nowhere to be seen.

xxxx

When Dick woke up, he wished he hadn't.

The wound on his chest was ablaze with intense pain. Part of him wanted the scream, but the sound only choked in his throat. The stab wound his kidnappers had given him had been crudely stitched up and made it painful to move. His head was still sore from where one of them had slammed it on the brick wall outside to knock him out. His hands were bound behind his back with zip-ties. And while he couldn't see them, Dick was pretty sure there were still stained with blood. His own blood.

"Looks like Richie Rich is awake." Someone pulled him up by his wrists and held him in the air. Dick's arm sockets cried out in protest, as did the rest of his body. Dick gasped painfully and gritted his teeth.

He was in a room with three people, including the person holding him up. The room had four brick walls, a hard concrete floor, and was largely unfurnished aside from a metal folding chair or two. The people were the same ones that had gotten into his room. He recognized the dude with the buzz cut that had decked Alfred. There was the hot chick that had knifed his side. And he could only assume the person holding him was the one that had bashed his head against the side of the house until unconsciousness came.

The hot chick smirked as she lit a cigarette. They all looked kind of the same. Blue eyes, blonde hair. The Nazi Germany ideal. "You're a tough kid, Richie Rich."

The big guy dropped him on to the floor. Dick couldn't help it. He screamed. This was more pain than he'd ever felt before. And he'd built up a fairly high tolerance to pain over the years. Once he'd broken his leg and still stood up and ran on it. (Though it probably contributed to the severity of the break itself.)

"You guys have no idea who you're messing with." Dick growled as they laughed. It wouldn't take long for Bruce to hear about this. Or his team, for that matter. They would find him. And then these guys were in for the biggest ass-kicking of their lives.

"What'cha gonna do?" Buzz Cut asked tauntingly. "Just try and get out of those zip-ties."

He could. He had practice with getting out of practically everything. Rope, zip-ties, duct tape, chains, wire…when you were on the job, you learned quickly. But getting out of them required some twisting and contorting…which he just couldn't do in his present state. Not when just lying there was so painful he could scarcely breathe.

"You guys suck at killing." Dick said, trying to cover his pain. In all honesty, he wasn't scared. He trusted his team to find him and make sure he was safe. "Shooting, poisoning…both of those were epic fails." He smirked, but screamed again when the Big Guy kicked his side.

"Blano's fault." Hot Chick frowned. "But, now we've taken him out of the equation. And you're going to make us rich."

"What? You're going to hold me for ransom? Now _there's_ an original idea." Dick smirked through the pain. It was probably a good idea to keep his mouth shut. But now he knew they weren't going to kill him…yet. So he could afford to taunt them a bit. "People have tried that before. You know where they end up? In jail. Bruce never lets anyone get away with it-"

The Big Guy kicked him again. Instead of screaming, Dick forced himself to laugh. The blondes looked on with raised eyebrows. He couldn't blame them, honestly. The laugh sounded deranged even to him.

Dick kept talking. "Know how many times I've been kidnapped? Five. Know how many times they've gotten away with it? None." Actually, he'd been kidnapped more times than that as Robin. But in almost all of those situations, he'd managed to get himself out of them before Batman or the police even came to help. This time wouldn't be any different…if he didn't have a chest wound, a stab wound, a possible concussion…and if he'd eaten something in the past day or so.

_This was the perfect storm. _Dick thought bitterly. He still hadn't eaten a full meal, despite what Bruce had said. Combined with his injuries, the lack of food and energy made him at his weakest. For a fleeting moment, he wished he were an alien like Conner. At least he was bullet-resistant. And most likely knife-resistant too. Sadly, he was only human. And right now he felt helpless. To him, helplessness was one of the words feelings in the world. Helpless was what you felt when there was nothing more you could do. Nothing you could do that would be helpful. Helpless was what you felt the first time the Joker laughed in your face while he smacked you with a crowbar. Helpless was what you felt when your mentor had to come save you.

Helpless was what you felt when you were standing on a platform, watching your parents plummet to their deaths.

"_We_ aren't going to fail." Buzz Cut said. "Because we don't intend on giving you back after we have the money. We're just going to blow your brains out." He pulled a gun out of the holster on his belt. The man held it up with a smirk, letting the dim light catch on it. "Start thinking up your last words, kiddo."


	8. Look, No Hands!

Sorry this took so long, guys!

Also, I'd like to announce that I am re-doing Emergency. I'll be deleting the story and posting the new first chapter later today. Don't worry: it'll be better this time around!

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><p>The next four hours (or thereabouts) passed slowly. Dick lay on the floor, trying to ignore the pain. His captors milled around the room. Occasionally they took a swig from the occasional beer. If they didn't want Dick to understand what they were saying, they would speak in Spanish. The dialect was different than what he was used to, probably because it originated in South America. But he managed to make sense of it and listened in without them knowing.<p>

"…how much are we asking for this son of a whore?" Buzz Cut asked in Spanish.

"I think Wayne would fork out fifteen million for him." Hot Chick leaned back in her metal folding chair. She took a hit off of her cigarette. "We should probably record a video to send to Wayne. Just so he knows that his little brat is alive. For now." The woman smirked over at him and tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder.

_Fifteen million? _Dick marveled at the number slightly. He knew that it was only a fraction of what Bruce had. But it was still a lot. At least he knew he didn't come cheap!

They continued to talk and plan. How they were going to do the video, how they would get it to Bruce, how they would get the money…meanwhile, Dick formulated a plan. After four hours of lying on a concrete floor with a wound to the chest and a slowly festering stab wound, one tired of feeling helpless. His best bet was to get out of the zip-ties, either on his own or have them taken off for him. And then he would have to grab a weapon. If he were in better shape, he would just disarm them. But he wasn't, so he'd need a weapon. Maybe once he had these goons under control, he could try to contact his team.

But how to get out of the zip-ties? They would see him trying to take them off.

Dick smirked as he got an idea. "Hey, guys. Nature is calling."

They looked at him and rolled their eyes.

"Just let him piss himself." Big Guy grumbled.

"I can do that. But do you _really_ want to have to smell that?" Dick replied.

Hot Chick frowned. "Just take him, Geoff. Bring him right back." She gave Buzz Cut, apparently named Geoff, a pointed look. He mumbled something in what might have been German and stood. He walked over and pulled Dick up off the floor and on to his feet. Geoff pushed him to get him moving, and opened the only door to let him go through.

They walked down a bare hallway and turned. Dick could hear loud, boisterous voices speaking in German from one of the other rooms. Great. More guards. He should have expected that much. This place was probably crawling with blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Spanish speaking Neo Nazis. It wasn't exactly the best place for an injured gypsy to be.

The bathroom was little more than a closet with a toilet. Buzz Cut opened the door for him. "Be quick!"

"You gonna take these off? There are a few things in this world that should not be done hands-free. Driving, walking dogs…pissing, if you're a dude, is one of those things." Dick said, glancing over his shoulder at him. In response, Buzz Cut shoved him inside and slammed the door.

_Perfect_. Dick thought with a smirk. Now he'd just have to manage this without screaming or falling to the floor writhing in pain. Or both. He got down on the rather disgusting ground. The wound on his side screamed in protest. The young boy bit into his cheek to keep from yelling. He pressed his forehead to the floor and scrunched up his legs. Dick brought his arms down and back, sliding them under his feet so that his bound hands were now in front. Carefully, he stood up. Thank God he was flexible. And bless his mother for stressing the importance of it when he was a child. Only she taught him because it would help with the act. Mrs. Grayson had no idea that her teachings would eventually help her son escape a base full of Neo Nazis while he was recovering from two murder attempts.

The rest of it was easy. Dick got the zip-ties off in little under a minute. Sometimes when he was training, he practiced getting out of situations like these. So it wasn't too hard. Having his hands free was very gratifying. The ties had cut into his wrists slightly, leaving marks. But some sore wrists were the least of his worries. He took the opportunity to do some damage control. He unbuttoned his nightshirt (How embarrassing was it to get kidnapped while in your _pajamas_?) and looked at his chest. The wound, at least, was unchanged. Still held shut by medical staples and red as an apple. It hurt like hell, too. But the doctor said that was normal.

His side, however, made him want to puke.

The stab wound had been sewed up, as he'd expected. Very badly. Whatever they used looked like thick black thread. The injury had swelled up, straining against the thread that held it closed. The area around it was bright red and inflamed. And some odd liquid was leaking out of it.

Dick buttoned his shirt back up. As soon as he was able, he would have to get that injury medical attention. It was already becoming infected, that much was apparent. His head still throbbed as well. Whether that was a concussion or a hell of a bruise remained to be seen. Dick took a breather, as his side was still aching. He even used the toilet. Geoff banged on the door and yelled at him to hurry up. After a minute more of waiting, Dick took a deep breath and opened the door.

Years of training took over. Dick raised his foot and kicked Geoff square in the stomach. While he was winded, Dick punched him in the face and grabbed him by the neck. He squeezed until the man went unconscious. The boy let go and dropped him on the floor. There was a brief moment where his own balance was thrown off. Possibly due to his lack of an actual meal. Once he steadied himself, he took Buzz Cut's weapons: a gun, a knife, and a machete. He tied the machete around his waist and tossed the knife back down.

Through sheer luck, he avoided being spotted in the halls. But when he peered around a corner, he saw that two guards were standing next to the only possible exit he had seen.

Under normal circumstances, these two wouldn't be a problem. However, these weren't normal circumstances. Knocking out Buzz Cut hadn't been easy. In fact, he probably wouldn't be able to duplicate it since it took so much energy out of him. So a distraction was called for. Dick looked around. There was a closet nearby. An idea sparked to life in his brain, and he smirked. He opened the door and slipped inside, pulling the door almost completely closed. Then he took the gun, pointed it down the hall in the opposite direction of the guards, and fired. Just as suspected, the guards came racing around the corner and down the hall to investigate. While they inspected the shot, Dick slipped out and ran towards the door they had been guarding. It opened up to an ancient-looking stone staircase. But he had no other choice. Shutting the door behind him, he began racing up the stairs as fast as he could.

Hours seemed to pass. His injuries were on fire with pain. But he pushed himself and focused on going up the stairs.

Finally he reached the top of the stairs. It was a stone landing…and nothing else.

Dick looked around desperately. Then, he looked up. Bits of light peaked up from above. He pushed against the ceiling. A secret wood door bent back easily. It opened and made a small square hole just above him. He climbed out and grinned. Sure, he was tired and in pain and hungry and panting…but he was out.

"I did it!" Dick laughed. "I did it! I…"

Then he got a good look at his surroundings. The trap door had let him out in, what looked like, the heart of a rainforest.

"…SHIT!"

xxxx

When they'd discovered Dick wasn't there, the team was shocked. They debated on calling Batman. But Kaldur shot down that idea almost immediately.

"He is _our_ teammate. We will find him." Kaldur said firmly.

M'gann helped Alfred and spoke to him when he came to. He told them he heard Dick yelling, so he ran in. Two men and a woman were trying to drag Dick out. But the boy was fighting them. Alfred tried to help him, but one of the men hit him and knocked him unconscious.

"We found the Batcave, dude." Wally told him reluctantly.

"I expected as much." Alfred replied as if this news did not surprise him in the least. "I just wondered if Richard would tell you before you found it." He led them down into the Batcave and went straight towards the master computer. "Thankfully, I have ways of tracking him." The screen lit up with a map. A red dot appeared on the screen, moving quickly. Alfred cussed under his breath. "They've got him on a plane. I'll track where they're going and tell you where to go. Get in the ship! Hurry!"

They'd gone to South America, tracking the red dot that was their friend. (The team wondered how Alfred was able to track him. A microchip or something?) But the dot disappeared somewhere into the Brazilian rainforest. They'd spent the last six hours looking for him. But it was difficult. The rainforest was thick and unforgiving. Once you'd hacked your way through one bit, miles and miles of untamed wilderness still barred any progress you might make. After a few hours, Alfred came on over the communicator once more.

"Richard's signal has come back online. Ten miles north. He isn't moving." Alfred said.

"That good or bad?" Conner asked as he ripped apart some thick vines.

"Could be either." Kaldur replied. "Let us hurry."

Easier said than done. It would take them hours to hack their way through the forest.

xxxx

Rainforests sucked.

Dick climbed a tree and laid across one of the branches. It was all he could do. Walking through the forest would get him nowhere. The growth was too thick and he was too weak. So he used his remaining energy to hide in a tree. With any luck, the Neo Nazis would pass by underneath his little tree and never notice him.

The machete was hidden on some lower branches, while he kept his gun with him. Just in case. There were all sorts of animals that lived in the rainforest. Most of which were not friendly. You could never be certain when a poison dart frog would hop on to your hand, or a territorial monkey would try to rip off your face. If some large snake wanted to take a bite out of him, it was going to get a face full of lead first.

Instead of thinking about the pain he was in (And after the energy and physical strain it took to get up the tree, he was in a great deal of it) he looked around at the forest. There were birds singing as the hid in the trees. It was raining farther up above him; Dick could hear the rain hitting the leaves. Soon he felt a bit of that rain as well, as drops of it fell on to his face. In a way, it was kind of peaceful. Now he knew why some people blew their money on those stupid 'sounds of the rainforest' CDs. When you were in a whole lot of pain and in a stressful situation, it could help relax you. Maybe one day he and Bats could go on a vacation here.

_A vacation? _Robin thought sleepily. He felt so tired. So, so tired…_Bruce would never agree to a vacation…_

With that, he fell asleep.


	9. Last Regrets

Here you go guys. Sorry this one is late. I would have had it up yesterday, but we had to put my dog down. So I just didn't feel up to finishing.

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><p>Dick never had a problem with snakes. In fact, he thought they were kind of cool. When he was a kid in the circus, one of the performers had a pet python named Mojo. Mojo was a pretty chill snake, even though he looked terrifying. He was several feet long and a foot thick. But in reality, all he did was lay around and let people pet him. Dick's mother never liked him being around Mojo. But Dick liked to play with him, running toy cars up and down the python's enormous back. It never occurred to him as a little boy that the snake could swallow him whole.<p>

The snake that was trying to eat his foot when he woke up was not as nice as Mojo, however.

It had itself wrapped around his right leg and had its mouth around his foot. Currently its teeth, like hypodermic needles, were digging into his bare flesh.

"Oh no! No no no no!" Dick growled. "I am _not_ getting knocked out, stabbed, and eaten by a snake in the same freaking day!" He grabbed the gun he'd kept with him and fired it. The snake writhed and loosened its grip on his leg. He shot again, almost hitting his own leg in the process. The snake let go over his foot and Dick shot it in the head. The snake fell and hit the ground with a loud crash of snapping branches and rustling leaves.

Dick inspected the damage. Surprisingly, it wasn't too terrible. His leg was a bit black and blue. It felt numb, but was quickly waking up. (Dick could tell that much by the pins-and-needles sensation he was getting.) There were multiple little puncture marks on his foot where the snake's teeth had dug into his foot. If he had to walk on it, he could. The main concern was infection.

"This," he murmured as he leaned against the tree trunk, "is one of the worst days of my life."

He wanted, very badly, to go out and find Bruce. Odds are he was somewhere in the area investigating Odessa. If Dick were in better shape, he could probably find him on his own. But it wasn't going to happen. He was too tired, too hungry and dehydrated, and in too much pain. Hopefully help would come soon. If it didn't…well, he had a gun. It would be better to die quick and painless (and by his own hand) than become dehydrated or starve. Or die of infection.

_Huh. I never thought I'd be sitting in a rainforest and contemplating whether or not I'll have to shoot myself. _Dick thought. There were times when Dick would take a moment and step back. The boy wonder would look at the situation he was in (like the one he was in currently) and marvel slightly at it. Granted, his life had never been 'normal.' Not many kids were born in the circus and raised as acrobats. But his life seemed to just get weirder and more dangerous with each passing year. What would it be like when he was Bruce's age? Would he be facing death nearly every day and night? Would he even _live_ to be Bruce's age? Heroes died all the time. Most of them before they hit their forties.

What was mortality rate for sidekicks going to be, he wondered?

It started to rain a bit. Dick tilted his head back to try and catch some raindrops in his mouth to help with his thirst. It didn't work all that well, and the effort yielded few results.

_I have to drink something. _Dick thought to himself. _I can go without food for weeks. But I can only go so long without water. _Contrary to what people might think, it was actually a bit difficult to find clean, safe drinking water in the rainforest if you didn't know where to look. But Dick had been educated in survival situations by Batman. There was always one easy trick for finding water, and it was everywhere. Dick saw a light brown vine clinging to the tree. It wasn't a flimsy green vine like you saw in Tarzan. It was solid and light brown, and clung to the tree tightly. Slowly and carefully, he climbed down into the lower branches. He'd hidden the machete there. His arms shook as he held it, and for a moment he feared he wouldn't be able to make it back up. But Dick managed. He pulled on the vine and separated it from the tree. It was stiff, but not entirely inflexible. Dick sawed at it with the machete. It broke easily, and Dick tilted one of the ends. Just as he'd expected; a thin trickle of water came out.

Dick drank as much as he could. The water wasn't cold or satisfying, but it was water. And at least his mouth didn't feel like a desert anymore.

Was Bruce going to find him, he wondered? Who would if he didn't? Odessa? That thought made Dick want to grab the gun and shoot himself right there. Well, that was one thing settled. He wasn't going to allow Odessa use him for ransom. Unless Bruce desperately wanted his body for burial, or something. (Though Dick had told him once that he'd rather be cremated. The thought of being eaten by worms for the rest of the eternity didn't sit with him.)

Dick set the machete aside and turned the gun over in his hand. It felt cool in his hand. What if it came to that? The thought of death, once he was staring it in the face, didn't seem so scary anymore. Well…the thought of a swift and painless end via bullet to the forehead seemed a lot less scary than a slow death from starvation or infection. Dick figured if it came down to that, he could do it without too many regrets. He was only thirteen and he'd helped save an entire city multiple times. He'd avenged his parent's murder. Made some pretty cool friends. And cemented the name 'Robin' in Gotham history.

"Not a bad run for only thirteen years." Dick said to himself with a slight smirk.

Though, if he did die here, who would come to his funeral? Or memorial or whatever. Bruce, Alfred. Barbara. Perhaps Barbara's family. Wally. The few members of the Justice League that knew Batman's identity. And…that was about it. Dick wasn't the most popular kid in school due to his assumed attitude and the fact he wasn't allowed to use any of his training to ward off bullies.

_The team might come. _Dick thought. _Or maybe not. They might feel guilty. Or Bruce might get mad at them and not let them come. Either way, they wouldn't know. _

That thought saddened him. If he ended up dying in the rainforest, he could pin down one of his regrets. Not telling his friends who he was.

xxxx

It had taken nearly six hours, but they were almost there.

They'd gotten lost twice and had to be set back on course by Alfred's guidance as he spoke to them over the communicator. The rainforest was humid and hot, and not even Superboy seemed to be able to make a dent in it. But they finally seemed close. All throughout their trek, the red dot had not moved. Alfred wasn't sure what to make of their friend's stillness. It could mean that he was doing the smart thing and not moving so he wouldn't get hopelessly lost. Or it could mean he _couldn't _move.

"He should be very close now. You're practically on top of him." Alfred said over the communicator.

Kid Flash looked down at the ground worriedly.

"Robin!" Artemis cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled. "Robin! Can you hear us!"

"Dick! Where are ya, man!" Kid Flash joined in.

The team began to search. Parting brush, looking in tree hollows. They checked every place they could think of to see if he might be hiding there. Only Aqualad stood by, silent and thinking. He frowned as he looked up into the canopy. The sky was turning black, and stars were beginning to appear in between the branches and leaves.

"Dick has been trained by Batman." Aqualad said suddenly. The others paused to look at him. "He would not hide on the ground, where he could be so easily accessible."

Suddenly Artemis screamed. The team looked over at her. She was on the ground, frozen with horror. They hurried over and saw a large, dead python lying partially hidden in the brush. It had two bullet wounds in its body, and one right in the face. Flies had already found the corpse. The buzzed around it hungrily, landing on its blank classy eyes. The tips of the snake's teeth had dried blood on them from the last meal that got away.

"I _tripped_ over that!" she cried. "I hate snakes!"

Kid Flash knelt beside the body of the snake. "It looks like this guy tried to take a bite out of someone, and they fought back with lead." He frowned. Could it be their friend? "It could have been Dick…er…Robin…er…you know what, forget it. It could have been him. But…"

"But what?" Superboy frowned.

"Neither Robin or Batman are fond of guns." Aqualad replied. "It seems unlike Robin to carry such a weapon."

Miss Martian glanced up in the canopy. She remembered what Aqualad had said only moments before and took to the air. She floated slowly upwards, scanning the tree branches for a hiding teenager. It was difficult work. Dick could practically turn invisible when he wanted to. The Martian girl did notice a glimmer of metal. She flew over and swiped her hands over it, clearing away leaves and twigs. It was a machete. Miss Martian picked it up carefully, looking it over. Almost right beside it was a small black gun.

"I found the gun that was used to kill the snake!" she shouted down.

"Did you find the person who was using it?" Kid Flash shouted back up.

"Not yet!" Miss Martian set both down carefully and flew up higher.

"…M'gann?"

Miss Martian turned suddenly and saw a pair of bright blue eyes looking at her. A surge of relief went through her. "There you are! Why were you hiding from us?" She moved closer to get a better look at him. He was crouching on one of the branches. His face seemed slightly flushed. His hair was dirty and he looked paler than usual. But he was whole. And alive.

Dick shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "I…I don't know. I thought you were Odessa...I don't feel well. I'm not thinking right."

"Do you need help getting down?" Miss Martian asked gently.

The boy shook his head. He began to slowly climb down. His pace was slow, but Miss Martian knew that helping him would just injure his pride. She floated down beside him. Just in case he lost his grip and fell. When Dick finally reached the ground, he swayed and almost fell. Kid Flash darted over and steadied him.

"Thanks." Dick said. "I'm kind of dizzy."

Miss Martian set a hand on his forehead. Martians were naturally cool in body temperature, while humans were a good bit warmer. But she could tell that Dick's body temperature was way above what was normal, even for humans. "You're burning up!"

"I think my side is infected." Dick set a hand on a tree to steady himself. "And I haven't eaten in a while."

"How did you escape?" Kid Flash asked with a grin. His friend was injured and sick, but he was alive. Kid Flash had been worrying that Odessa had killed him and buried him in the middle of the rainforest.

Dick smirked a bit. "Knocked a guy unconscious, stole his shit, distracted some guards, ran up to the surface, hid in a tree…"

Superboy looked over his teammate. "He looks like crap. How are we supposed to get him back? The ship is out of M'gann's telepathic range, and it couldn't land in this place anyway."

"No need, children." Alfred said, interjecting over their communications system. "Master Bruce is on the way."

"Master Bru-" Artemis began. She groaned and set a hand over her eyes. "We're _so_ dead."

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><p>Well, if anything good came out of this weekend, I beat my brother's Arkham Asylum game. I'm now, officially, terrified of Killer Croc.<p> 


	10. Cracking the Whip

Hey guys! Here's the final chapter of Behind the Mask.

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><p>Within two minutes a jet was hovering over the trees. A black rope extended down through the canopy. Though Dick protested, M'gann flew him up to the jet instead of letting him try to climb all the way. She flew into the jet and set him down carefully. Batman gave her a hard look that made her heart jump into her throat. M'gann went down again and flew up Artemis. By the time she reached the plane again, the boys were already inside.<p>

The jet had a slightly larger back with a row of seats that could accommodate a few extra passengers. Wally helped Dick over to the seats and let him lay down. The other stood by nervously, looking at Batman. But he said nothing except, "Sit down." So they did.

Dick fell asleep almost as soon as he was stretched out across the seats. It didn't look to be a restful sleep. His face was flushed with fever, and his black hair was damp from sweat and the humid air of the rainforest. His chest rose and fell with labored breathing. The team sat by and watched him, a sense of failure slamming into them. M'gann was the first to speak…sort of.

"_I feel so bad for him." _M'gann told her teammates telepathically.

"_Stubborn people don't die easy." _Conner responded. _"He'll be fine."_

"_I don't think any of us should ever have kids. Ever. I mean, we can't even take care of a thirteen-year-old! They're like the easiest age group to take care of! Give them some junk food and some videogames and they keep themselves entertained!" _Artemis replied with a frown. She was sitting next to Robin, looking at him worriedly. Ever since they'd had to deal with Red Inferno and Red Torpedo together, she'd come to look at him like a little brother. A little brother that she was fiercely protective of. She wiped his damp black hair out of his eyes. How could she not realize that Dick was Robin? Now that she looked, it seemed so glaringly obvious. M'gann had told them that he came from a family of acrobats. And Robin was the king of flips and aerial tricks. How many kids from Gotham could pull those types of stunts?

"_In our defense, most thirteen-year-olds don't have evil stockholders and Neo Nazis trying to kill them." _Wally pointed out. He was also sitting close to their friend, watching him closely. In reality he felt a good deal of guilt. Not only for letting Dick end up this way, but for also accidentally revealing Robin's identity. How mad would his friend be, he wondered? Would their friendship survive? The thought of losing Dick as a friend hurt. Hurt badly, actually. They had been tight for _years._ And he might have screwed it all up by simply leaning on the marble bust of a dead guy.

"_That does not matter. The point is that this mission was a failure." _Kaldur glanced forlornly at Batman. He knew that he was going to be scolded for this disaster of a mission. And rightly so. Kaldur was the leader. How could he have allowed this to happen?

They reached Gotham in a few hours. The only time Dick awoke was when the team shook him awake to give him some water. He gulped it down thirstily, but went right back to sleep afterwards. They landed in Gotham airport. People looked shocked as they got out. Batman was carrying Dick, who was still fast asleep. He asked for an ambulance, and charged the team with staying with Dick till one came. With that, Batman left. The team was shocked to have escaped being yelled at. But they did as they were told and waited with Dick in the airport's first aid center until paramedics came to pick him up.

"Come on; let's go change." Wally said suddenly. The paramedics had just vanished with their friend.

"Change? Why?" Conner asked.

"We'll attract attention in if we visit Dick like this." Artemis replied.

After running back to the manor and quickly changing into the civilian clothes they had left there and telling Alfred what had happened, they rushed off to Gotham Medical.

The nurses made them wait around an hour before they could go in to see him. Finally, they were allowed inside his room. Dick was lying in bed, still asleep. He looked a little better than the last time they'd seen him. The nurses had given him medicine for his fever, so his face wasn't as flushed as before. They sat at his side, silently giving him their support and feeling guilty.

Dick only woke up when a strange man came bursting into the room.

He was a tall man with black hair and bright blue eyes. He had a handsome, made-for-TV face and he was wearing a suit. The team backed away immediately as he went to Dick's bedside.

"He's expected to make a recovery, Mr. Wayne." A nurse was telling him as she walked in behind him. "We're not sure what happened. They told us Batman simply dropped him off at the airport and told him to get him back to his father. We'd hoped Dick would be able to explain what happened, but he's been sleeping the entire time."

Bruce Wayne grabbed his son's hand. Dick opened his eyes and smiled slightly. "Hey, Dad. I met Batman today. Cool, right?"

"Very cool." Bruce responded. Wally thought he saw a bit of shock run through Bruce's face. He knew that Dick didn't ever call Bruce 'Dad.' Or father. Or daddy. Or any variation of that title. _Ever_. Perhaps the kid's fever wasn't completely gone yet? "What happened?"

"Kidnapped. Rescued. So, a pretty usual Wednesday." Dick replied nonchalantly. "How long am I going to have to be here?" He looked from Bruce to the nurse.

"A week or two, at least." The nurse answered. "You've got a pretty nasty wound. We want to keep you here until the infection isn't as bad. Also, we're going to send up some food to you soon. The doctor wants you to eat. If you need to get out of bed, call the nurses' station and we'll send someone to help you." She smiled and gave Dick a good-natured pat on the head before walking out.

Finally, Dick noticed his friends were crowded in one corner of his room. "Um…team…this is my adoptive father…"

"They know, Dick." Bruce told him.

The shock was visible on his face. After a moment or two of strained silence, he looked at Bruce almost guiltily. "I swear to God I didn't tell them-"

"I know what happened. It's alright. You were planning on telling them after all of this, weren't you? Wally already knows." Bruce replied. Again, Dick looked shocked. The team glanced at each other. Was Dick really planning on telling them his identity? When they looked back, they saw that Dick was nodding slowly in response. Bruce said, "That's what I thought."

"You…you were going to tell us?" Artemis fumbled for words.

Slowly, Dick pulled himself up so he was sitting up a bit more. "Not at first. I just wanted you guys gone, actually. It isn't fun to act like a pompous brat to conceal your identity." He leaned back against his pillows. Why were hospital pillows always so insanely soft, he wondered? "But then when I escaped and hid in that tree, it hit me that I could die out there. Odessa could find me. Or I might have starved or died from dehydration. Or a snake could eat me in my sleep…and one tried to do that, actually! But then I-"

"-shot it in the face?" Wally asked with a bit of a smile.

Dick nodded. "Yeah. So, I'm sitting there…foot hurt, one bullet wound to the chest, stab wound to the side…and I had that gun with me. Still loaded." He could still practically see it in his hand. Small, sleek, and black…but deadly. "And I started thinking, 'Do I really just want to waste away in the middle of a rainforest? I mean, dying quick and alone is better than dying slowly and alone.'" He frowned. The boy could tell from the looks on their faces that they were horrified that he'd actually considered killing himself. "But I decided to hold on for as long as I could. And if I couldn't do it anymore…well, _click click POW_."

"We are glad it did not have to come to that." Kaldur said, setting a hand on Dick's shoulder.

"Me too. I'm not trained with guns. With my luck I'd just end up shooting off one of my ears." Dick replied, trying to inject a bit of a humor into the situation. Wally chuckled lightly, and the others managed a bit of a smile. Bruce sat by as serious as ever. "So, while I was thinking about that, I thought about who would come to my funeral. And, in my head, you guys weren't there. I mean…Dick Grayson would just be a failed mission. You guys would have never known what happened to me. Well…Robin." He sighed. "And I didn't want that to happen. Cause you guys are my friends, ya know?"

M'gann flew over and hugged Robin. "We know." She kissed his cheek and smiled at him.

Dick glanced at Bruce. "Also, if you outlive me, I want to be cremated. Being eaten by worms is not how I went to spend the rest of eternity. A nice pretty jar on the mantle will do just fine, thanks."

"I'll keep that in mind." Bruce replied.

"Sooo, M'gann. Do _I_ get a kiss?" Wally spread his arms out wide and grinned. Artemis smacked him on the back of the head.

xxxx

For a little while, the team thought they'd escaped being chewed-out by Batman.

How very wrong they were.

They stood, shoulder-to-shoulder has Batman frowned at them. "You realize, of course, Dick Grayson almost died. Had he been a regular boy, he would be dead in a rainforest right now. Because you did not properly protect him." He did not yell. But his words were filled with scathing anger nonetheless. Each sentence he spoke brought an unseen whip down on all of their shoulders. "Regular civilians will not have the same type of training that you have. A regular civilian would be _dead_ right now."

Kaldur stepped forward. "Batman, I would like to take full responsibility for this. I am the leader of this team, and therefore the blame should fall with me."

"A noble gesture, but a foolish one none the less. The blame rests with all of you." Batman narrowed his eyes at them. "A thirteen-year-old _schoolgirl_ managed to get past you and into Dick's room. Not to mention three armed kidnappers." The whip came down again. The team flinched.

"This is the team's first failure, so punishment will be lenient. But there _will_ be punishment." Batman continued.

"Yes, sir." The team mumbled, keeping their eyes on their shoes.

"So…what is our punishment?" Artemis asked hesitantly.

"It seems only fitting that you take care of the mess you made. You'll be caring for your teammate until he's recovered enough to begin his training once more." Batman replied. The young heroes glanced at each other and tried to conceal their relief. That was more of a lenient punishment than they'd ever dreamed for. "…and you also get the special honor of cleaning the Batcave."

The teenagers paused and thought of the Batcave. Huge, dark, and _huge_. They groaned.

xxxx

"So, he's got you cleaning the Batcave?" Dick asked. He was lying at home in bed, drinking some orange juice that Kaldur had brought him. He'd served his week in Gotham Medical, and was happy to be back at the Manor.

Kaldur nodded. "It is a lenient punishment, I think. He told me that it is your job to clean it, usually. If you can do it being just one person, we can get it done ourselves." The Atlantian boy smiled slightly. In truth, the team was kind of enjoying their 'punishment.' Cleaning the Batcave was what you made of it. They managed to make it fun by having occasional splash fights with buckets of water…fights that Kaldur almost always won when he could be persuaded to join. And taking care of Dick wasn't so bad. He never asked for much. Some food, some water. They managed to have some conversations with their friend during breaks.

"I don't mind cleaning the cave, actually. Gives me an excuse to get up really high without him telling me to quit acting like a hyperactive kid." Dick replied with a shrug. "When I was a kid, I would jump off the really, really high places just to scare him." He chuckled.

"Batman…er…Bruce…seems like he scares easily when it comes to you." Kaldur remarked. "I can see how. In Atlantis, the firstborn sons are highly treasured. In a way, you are his firstborn."

Dick stared at him with surprise. "I…guess. That's why he's leaving the company to me and everything. I just never figured he thought of me as a son. Kind of like I never think of him as a dad. Y'know?"

The older boy set a hand on Dick's shoulder. "I do not know much about father-son relationships, as I have never known my own. Nor do I know how it is to be without your true parents." He met Dick's eyes, trying to convey his message to him. "But I do know that Bruce loves you, and you love him. I heard you call him Dad in that hospital. Forgive me, my friend, but I do not believe that was a slip of the tongue." He stood. "If you need us, just call for us."

The younger boy nodded slowly. "Alright. Thanks, Kaldur."

He watched him walk out. Not long after, Bruce entered. He sat on the edge of his bed. "How do you feel?"

"Alright." Dick grinned. "Hey, you know what I wonder? Why do we say 'alright' when something is good. I mean…'all right.' All is right. Right? So when things are bad, why don't we say 'none right' or something?" He saw amusement in his adoptive father's eyes. That wasn't an everyday occurrence with Bruce. Dick always felt a small sense of accomplishment when he saw that light in Bruce's eyes. It was one of the things on his daily check list: Get up, save Gotham, make Bruce smile, sleep.

"Not sure." Bruce replied. "I'm about to go out for the night. I'll be back around five, most likely. And you better be asleep when I get back. The doctor said you need to rest."

"Not my fault you've molded me into your little night owl. Or is it night robin?" Dick mused on that. Night robin. That sounded so weird. "But I'll try. You going to release my friends for the night?"

Bruce nodded. "When I go down. I'll tell them they can come up and say good night to you." He stood up and started for the door. When his hand was on the doorknob, Dick finally made himself speak up.

"Hey, Bruce…um…" Dick fumbled for the words. They'd never actually been said. Just kind of _implied_. Though eventually they had to be said, right? Every kid said it to their dad eventually. It wasn't a big deal. Right. No big deal at all. "I…uh…I…"

"I love you too, Dick." Bruce replied. With that, he walked out.

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><p>Sorry for the cliche ending, guys. If you liked this story, go check out Emergency. Also, I'm trying to work out a plot for a Black Wings sequel. Hopefully you'll be seeing that sometime soon.<p> 


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